Julius the Centurion

Julius was a centurion of the Augustan Regiment of the Roman Army who was in charge with escorting Saint Paul and other prisoners from Judea to Rome. During a gale, Paul prophesied that an angel of God was going to save all of the lives aboard the ship, although their ship would be destroyed; Paul exhorted all of the 276 men aboard the ship to have courage and run aground on some island. The prisoners lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the Adriatic Sea on the fourteenth day, and the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground on Malta. The soldiers planned to massacre the prisoners rather than let them escape, but Julius wanted to spare Paul's life and prevented the soldiers from carrying out their plan. Everyone reached land in safety, fulfilling Paul's prophecy.